


My brain is like 'bzzz'. My heart is like 'wow'

by ElopeToTheSea



Series: I Love Play Rehearsal [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Alternate Universe - Middle School, Awkward Crush, Crushes, M/M, Middle School was hell and the only way i want to relieve it is through this fic, Pining, Riku is a gay mess, Theater Kid Sora
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-17
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:07:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,042
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22765207
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElopeToTheSea/pseuds/ElopeToTheSea
Summary: “Uh,” Riku spoke, looking around. The distinctive smell of humidity and dust reached his nose. A tell-tale sign that this classroom was rarely (if ever) used. “Is…this where we meet for the play?”Just as he asked, the boy perked up. Without a second to miss, he jumped out of the chair and reached for Riku in a flash. He stood a bit too close, curious eyes looking up and down in jerky motions. It didn’t seem possible like the petite boy would stay still, for even a second, since as soon as Riku opened his mouth again, he began jumping and talking so fast he made Riku dizzy.“Yes! It’s here! You aren’t lost right! You’re really here for the play!?”
Relationships: Riku/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Series: I Love Play Rehearsal [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1658089
Comments: 6
Kudos: 91





	My brain is like 'bzzz'. My heart is like 'wow'

Riku wasn’t sure what to expect from the drama club. Truly, he didn’t even want to be there. But with the music club reaching full capacity before he could even sign up, he was left with no other option than to suffer his last year of middle school in a club where he’d suffer public humiliation by reading cheesy lines on a stage.

Needlessly to say, he wasn’t exactly thrilled.

But he, in the long list of his grievances, drama club wasn’t even in the top ten. And so, all he really hoped of the class was to wiggle away from the stage by deadpanning his lines so bad he’d be forced to play the role of Tree #4.

But when he finally found the courage to push the door open, he found none of what he’d imagined.

For starters, the classroom was empty. Well, almost empty. A single kid was sitting in the middle of a row of chairs, reading a book with no lights on. Confused, Riku flicked the switch in the wall on.

“Uh,” Riku spoke, looking around. The distinctive smell of humidity and dust reached his nose. A tell-tale sign that this classroom was rarely (if ever) used. “Is…this where we meet for the play?”

Just as he asked, the boy perked up. Without a second to miss, he jumped out of the chair and reached for Riku in a flash. He stood a bit too close, curious eyes looking up and down in jerky motions. It didn’t seem possible like the petite boy would stay _still_ , for even a second, since as soon as Riku opened his mouth again, he began jumping and talking so fast he made Riku dizzy.

“Yes! It’s here! You aren’t lost right! You’re really here for the play!?” the boy exclaimed, letting his lisp show. “You’re new! Is this your first time?! I’m sooo excited!”

Riku walked backwards, suddenly feeling overwhelmed by the amount of brightness and colour that assaulted his senses. The boy was covered from head to toe in bright colours, and all kind of strange accessories were dangling from him. He knew the school’s dress code was lax but…

How could anyone get away with wearing so much _colour_?

Despite how much Riku _wasn’t_ saying, the boy didn’t bother stopping his flurry of words about how much fun they’d be having in and _‘I swear this is the best club ever, you won’t regret being here!’_.

Through the haziness, he managed to answer. If a bit awkwardly. It wasn’t his fault that the boy’s eyes were a _special_ shade of blue that almost looked fake from how _vibrant_ it was. It almost seemed to pierce right through Riku's core, leaving him completely speechless.

“Uhm, ugh…Y-yeah…?”

Surprisingly, the boy didn’t seem put off by Riku’s lack of proper communication skills. Not even the slightest bit. And instead of the usual mockery or stink eye he was often met with, the boy smiled.

Honest to god, smiled.

All bright and dopey, unashamedly showing off his neon green braces. 

Not a lot of people smiled at Riku, much less something so _bright_. They tended to flock away, too creeped out to even look at him. Riku had long since lost the ability to care what others murmured about him. He didn’t care if they thought the long hair that covered half his face was creepy, nor if they said the old oversized hoodie he had was ‘out of fashion’. If they were put off by his inability to properly hold a conversation, he’d just ignore them even more.

But it was the first time, since second grade, that someone talked to him without a hint of discomfort. 

“That’s great! I’m Sora!”

“Uhm, I’m...Riku,” Riku tried to shift away from the boy’s intense stare. It wasn’t working. “Where’s-…everyone?”

“Oh, the teacher isn’t here,” Sora replied suddenly a bit nervous. “He takes a bit to come to class…and everyone else kinda ditched…”

That made sense. No one was gonna stay quietly put in a classroom with no teacher insight. In fact, Riku was seriously thinking about ditching too. But a glance to the boiling hot yard outside the class was an instant no in his brain. With a sigh, he plopped to the nearest chair, letting his bag drop to the ground.

“You’re staying?” Sora asked. The excitement was obvious in his freckled face. All shimmery eyes, staring at Riku with hope unbound.

“There’s nothing better to,” he replied, taking out his notebook from the bag and putting his earphones on.

“Great! Then, when the teacher comes, we can rehearse! I’ve been _dying_ to act all summer, and this is the first class in _forever_ -!” Sora started rambling by in the chair by Riku’s side. Despite his reputation, Riku didn’t have the heart to actually ignore the kid. He let one of the earphones out, so he could half-listening while he did homework. “-I _literally_ could start crying! Oh! Not from being sad tho! Like, I’m super super happy. A happy cry! Do you ever do that-?”

Sora continued to speak, seemingly unconcerned by how little Riku was answering. Which was a relief. Riku didn’t know what he would be able to say, seeing how he really didn’t know anything about social cues _or_ theatre.

But he knew a bit about musicals, which is why he managed to some-what chime in after a while.

“I like The Lion King,” he said. Sora blinked slowly when he did. Riku felt observed, suddenly unsure if he had done the right thing by talking. “…The music’s good? I know it’s not really acting but-…”

“No, no, no! I get it!” Sora was quick to interject, his eyes seemingly even more vibrantly blue than before, and Riku only had time to mutter to himself ‘ _how?’_ , before Sora continued talking. “I also like musicals! It’s kind of theatre too? I think…? Never mind that! But you still need to know a _bit_ of acting to be in a musical! I’ve never been in one before but-!”

After about fifteen more minutes of Sora talking about plays and scripts – and Riku chiming in every once in a while, which for some reason made Sora smile even wider -, the teacher finally came into the classroom with all types of excuses in his mouth. From traffic, to family issues, even sprinkling in a teacher meeting that Riku was sure was absolute bullshit.

But Sora wasn’t mad in the slightest. He smiled at the teacher, asking him if he was okay and how his family was doing. Riku wasn’t sure how he was still so happy when the class Sora was looking forward so much was running half an hour late.

“I’m sorry kid, I know you want to act today…But there’s no one else here. I don’t think I’ll be able to do the activity,” the teacher said with a dejected look.

“Oh,” was all Sora managed to say. The light in his eyes was finally starting to dim down, even if his smile seemed to stay intact. Riku was completely caught off guard. It was the first time in the long fifteen minutes they’d spent together that Sora’s eyes were anything but happy. And it somehow felt like it was a sin to allow him to be this dejected.

He knew it was stupid but couldn’t help himself. And when an even stupider thought crossed his mind, he found himself silently cursing under his breath. But thinking about Sora going home all sad because they cancelled play rehearsal, seemed near cruel.

“It’s alright! We can wait for next week-!”

“I’m here,” Riku said with a sigh, closing his notebook.

“Ah, so you’re part of the club too?” the teacher asked. Riku nodded, ever so slightly. “Great! Then we can try!”

“Yes!” Sora cheered loudly, making little jumps as Riku got up. “Thank you! Thank you, Riku!”

Riku didn’t have the slightest idea why Sora was so happy. He wanted to say something, but as he watched Sora dance around unto the stage was enough for Riku to all but forget how to speak.

Needlessly to say, Riku’s little attempt to play hero had been a disaster. He was reading off a script, and he still managed to stammer. His voice was either too low or too high, and he couldn’t – no matter how hard he tried – emote anything other than confusion. If the teacher had been the slightest bit less professional, he was sure he would have started laughing on the spot. He was only glad there was no one else to see him suffer.

Sora, on the other hand, was his complete opposite. He thrived as he walked around the stage, moving his arms and levelling his voice so it was heard across the class, but not enough to hurt Riku’s ears. Not to mention, he seemed to do the impossible, emoting with all his face and body. Between sadness and happiness, he shifted quickly. They were exaggerated and over the top, all over the place with emotion. And while embarrassing to watch, Riku couldn’t help but admire Sora’s boldness. His dedication for things he liked.

Suddenly, the anger that Sora wore in his face, shifted to one of confusion and a small smile. That was one was genuine, Riku realized.

“Riku? The next line?” Sora asked with a small giggle.

Riku got startled and began searching for line in the script he was holding. Barely, he managed to read what followed, continuing the exercise. He really thought Sora would be upset for messing up, but there was no trace of resentment.

“I know,” Sora whispered in between lines. “It’s difficult when you’re starting!”

Riku pretended the growing heat in his cheeks was due to being called a newbie, instead of the sudden realization that Sora was covered in glitter.

* * *

Despite his initial thoughts about the drama club, Riku found himself enjoying the time he spent in the class. Most of the time, the kids skipped so there wasn’t much noise or an audience, really.

He preferred not to act unless strictly necessary. Which the teachers caught on quickly, via Riku’s lack of emotions as he acted. He often said that ‘ _a tree with a crayon-drawn face would have better acting skills than you’_. And Riku would have felt offended if he didn’t agree wholeheartedly and relished in being left alone to do his homework.

On the rare occasions the teacher forced him to act, he’d usually played a villain. Which, thankfully, meant standing ominously on the corner of the stage and recite two or three lines as if he were angry.

It was usually painless enough only _a few_ of his classmates laughed.

But more importantly, Riku found a friend in Sora. Although the longer he knew the boy, he realized Sora would be friends with _anyone_ who let him. It shouldn’t have been a surprise for Sora to _try_ and be his friend. No. What was strange, was Sora deciding to _stay_ his friend. Namely, because the more time he spent in the club, the more people began saying weird things about Riku.

Not necessarily good or bad. Just weird. Like, that he ate cockroaches or that he killed babies for sport. All which, he wondered, had to do with the fact his older brother had been an actual delinquent while he was in school.

But Sora didn’t care. He continued to talk to Riku, continued to smile and him, and continued to help him wiggle out of the teacher’s sight whenever Riku slacked off. It had been a pleasant surprise for someone to decide to stay friends with him, even when he had very little to offer.

But what had been even _weirder_ , was how Sora _still_ wanted to be his friend after he met Mickey.

“Eww!” a girl had screamed at Riku, out of the nowhere, when they were rehearsing.

It had taken Riku a few minutes to catch on what she was talking about. But he knew instinctively what she referred to, when he felt little paws on his arm. When he turned down to see, he wasn’t surprised to find Mickey climbing up his sleeve.

“I thought I told you to stay hidden,” Riku said, using his hand to pick up his little friend.

Instantly, all girls started screaming and all the boys moved away.

“Oh my god! Throw it out!” one of the girls yelled. The judging eyes of the rest of the class were soon staring deep holes unto his skull. Riku was no longer phased by it, but still found it annoying to deal with.

“I’m not throwing him out, he’s not bothering anyone,” Riku replied with a frown. There was nothing he hated more than people who thought Mickey was gross. His pet was properly trained and the cleanest animal he’d ever encountered.

But he knew people would make a fuss about it, so he was more than ready to hide Mickey back into his hoodie…when he heard and excited squeal right by his side.

“Is that a mouse!?” Sora exclaimed.

“A rat, actually,” he replied. Although Mickey was fairly young, so he was still small enough to be confused for a mouse. Riku felt a strange heat in his cheeks as Sora stared with awe at his pet. “His name is Michael.”

“He’s so cute!” Sora said excitedly, bouncing slightly in his place. “Can I hold it?!”

Riku gave a quick curt nod, offering his hand so Sora could hold Mickey. Sora never flinched or made gagging noises, like many others who’d tried to hold Mickey had. He seemed genuinely happy to be able to hold his pet. Riku let a soft smile settle on his lips, as he watched how Sora played with Mickey, letting him even climb up his head, where the small heart-shaped hair clips kept the unruliest part of Sora’s hair out of the way. 

That’s when the teacher interrupted. The girls were quick to tell on Riku having brought a pet to school, pointing at Sora to show the proof. Thankfully, Mickey was very smart and when the teacher turned to look at Sora, the boy was smiling innocently while holding his script.

Mickey had all but disappeared.

Everyone stared confused, but with no means to prove there was a rat in the classroom, the teacher told them to stop lazing around and start practising. It wasn’t until there was quiet again that Mickey showed his little snout out of Sora’s overall pocket.

“Hello there,” Sora whispered to Mickey, with a cheeky grin.

To his surprise, Mickey then started to rub his head against Sora’s cheek and licking as if he was trying to wipe away his freckles. A loud giggle escaped Sora as Mickey continued to show a strange amount of affection towards the boy. 

“He’s so polite!” Sora beamed, taking Mickey into his hands. He cradled his hands gently, letting Mickey walk on his arms. “You think I could hold on to him for the rest of the class? I swear I’ll be careful!”

Riku could only nod.

And with that, Sora reached for his script and began reciting Midsummer Night as if it were nothing. Mickey had decided that Sora’s shoulder was the most comfortable place to be and stayed there until play rehearsal was over.

Riku spent the rest of the day staring, telling himself it was because he was worried about Mickey. Never mind his rat was smart enough to run if there was trouble around, and that Sora was more likely to hurt himself than Mickey if the colourful band-aids on his knees were any close indication. 

* * *

Even after school was over, Riku often found himself staying with Sora in the emptiness of the theatre classroom. Sora liked to stay and practice extra time, and Riku was more than glad to stay behind. Even if it meant almost getting kicked out various times for teachers 100% done with middle schoolers with absent guardian figures.

“You sure you should stay?” Sora asked, slight worry as they sat on the floor. Riku had finished his homework and was absent-mindedly writing chords for a song in the manuscript notebook he always carried.

Sora was holding Mickey on his lap, petting the back of his head as the little thing rolled around. Riku tried his hardest to convince himself he was _not_ jealous of a rat.

“My brother’s supposed to pick me up,” Riku answered with a shrug. “But he’s too busy flirting with his girlfriend to get here in time.”

“Oh,” Sora only said. At times like this, when school was over and there was nothing left for him to say, Sora was quiet. It felt strange, but no unpleasant. Riku liked to think this was a side of Sora only he knew. “What are you writing?”

“A song,” he replied before he could stop to think. Just after he said it, he winced.

“A song?!” Sora exclaimed in excitement. “You know how to play instruments?!”

“This one’s for piano,” Riku muttered, hiding away the notebook.

“Can I hear?” Sora asked.

Riku wondered for a moment. There was no real harm in doing it, but he didn’t feel confident enough in the song to play it to the public.

“Please?” Sora begged, puppy eyes staring at him. Riku was weak against those, so he sighed and got up.

The old digital keyboard was kept on the corner of the classroom; unused for anything other than dramatic cues. It was out of tune and almost breaking down, but Riku could work with that. He played the song, wincing at the sound that -to him- was less than ideal. The notes didn’t quite connect, and the weight of the keys made it hard for him to switch at the pace he’d practice.

Nevertheless, Sora smiled happily as he played. He seemed to be enjoying the sound, gently placing his head against the nearby wall. Riku’s eyes were supposed to be on the piano, but he couldn’t focus as much as he wanted to. His eyes kept drifting to Sora, who was slowly moving his head to the rhythm of the music with his eyes closed.

He truly wondered how someone as bright as Sora wanted to be friends with someone as gloomy and weird as Riku.

Sora seemed to be enjoying the song, and Riku didn’t have the heart to stop, not even after he knew there was nothing more there. He hadn’t written the rest of the song _yet,_ but seeing how much Sora liked it, he forced himself to come up with the finishing notes through sheer force of will. So, he continued playing, pulling certain chords entirely out of thin air, hoping they somehow meshed together, and Sora didn’t notice he was winging it.

He didn’t stop until he finally felt like the song was ready, and he couldn’t come up with any more variants of the same melody to yam in. And, as soon as he stopped, Sora blinked awake, staring upwards towards Riku. For a moment, neither said anything. Riku was worried he’d done something wrong. Maybe Sora didn’t like it? Maybe he’d played for too long and he was bored?

But all his worries were washed away when Sora smiled. That bright, contagious, unparalleled smile full of the most vibrant colours he’d ever seen.

“I like it!” he said. It sounded honest, completely fascinated with Riku’s song. “You’re so good Riku! Good enough to be on a band!”

Riku tried to hide his blush behind his long hair, unsure if it would even work.

“I’m not that good with people,” he replied.

“I don’t think that matters,” Sora said. “Vanitas was also very bad with people, but he still got in a band with our cousin! It was a mess, but I think they had fun.”

Riku appreciated Sora’s attempts to get him to open up to other people, so he gave him a shy smile.

“I think it’s fun to express yourself however you can,” Sora continued to say. Mickey ran up his bright pink long-sleeved shirt until he perched himself on Sora’s shoulder. “Some do it through music, some through painting…I like doing through acting!”

“That’s why you like it so much?” Riku asked.

Sora nodded with the shimmer of a star fluttering against his eyes.

“It’s easier, you know? I’m not very smart, so I can’t do math or remember all that strange stuff about biology! But when I’m in a play, you can forget about everything! You just have to follow what the script says and start-…doing!” as he spoke, Sora’s hands began moving in the air. The unbridled smile he carried was enough to take Riku’s breath away. “You can be anything! And-! Everything! It’s so much fun! It’s like the entire world is held inside the stage, and you get to see it all at once! Isn’t it amazing!?”

At that moment, Sora shot him a smile, unlike any other Riku, had seen. It was full of nervousness, all wobbly around the edges. But his eyes still remained strong, unwavering. Full of emotion and hope. It was the type of smile that just screamed ‘we can do it!’ as the darkness closed in. The type of smile Riku could hold on to, if he ever needed to find his way back home.

“Yeah…” he said. He could have sworn glitter went into his eyes from how much everything seems to shine a bit brighter. How Sora seemed to shine under shitty school lights. How everything was just-…bursting in colours right before him. “…Amazing…”

Just then, the door to the classroom opened.

“Sora! I’ve been waiting for you for hours!” a voice called. Riku blinked, unsure of who it belonged to. It wasn’t Sora’s guardian, Vanitas. Riku already had the pleasure to meet that can of worms.

Before he could even open his mouth to ask, Sora stood up with a jump.

“Roxas!” he called with a huge grin on his face. “I told you I was practising ‘till late!”

“It’s already late!” Roxas said back. “Now come on. Let’s go before they run out of ice cream in the parlour.”

“Sure!” Sora said. He turned towards Riku, handing Mickey back to him with gentle carefulness. “Thanks for staying with me, Riku!”

“Sure thing,” Riku replied, still in a daze as he watched Sora reach for his bag.

“See ya’ later!” Sora cheered, waving goodbye as he left with Roxas close by.

“See ya…” Riku parroted, with a hesitant move of the hand.

After they left, Riku didn’t move. A few minutes passed, and he still couldn’t move. Another few minutes passed, and his cell phone began ringing. It was definitely Leka, too annoyed at him for not answering his text messages for the last hour.

Riku didn’t bother picking up.

Mickey tried his best to nudge him into moving. He climbed up his arm, hid in his clothes, even tried to run through the keys of the piano in an attempt to catch his attention. But it didn’t matter how much his pet friend tried to make him react, all Riku could do was stare dumbly at the air, mouth agape like a fish.

After what felt like an eternity, Riku finally let out a groan loud enough to startle Mickey. He hid his burning face on his hands and, slowly, let himself fall to the gross tiled floor of the classroom. It was cold, but not even that could make the heat in his face die down. Nor could it make his heart stop beating so loudly it seemed to rip off his chest. With shaky breaths, he turned his body around, so he was staring at the ceiling.

“ _Fuck_ ,” he said, still staring at the ceiling. Still seeing the vague form of Sora’ smiling face as he closed his eyes. He groaned again; this time louder. And as if the torrent of thoughts and feelings had been let out, Riku was suddenly overwhelmed by how maddingly cute Sora was, and how much he wanted to hold his hand. Yet, at that moment, all he could do was hide. “ _Fuuuuuck_.”

**Author's Note:**

> i have exactly 0 idea of how theatre works outside of the basics of dramaturgy. 
> 
> i don't know if y'all remember what middle school was like? i vividly remember it being one of the strangest years of my life, where everyone was a weird cringey mess. 
> 
> so i decided to do that with sora and riku. 
> 
> i've been listening to "i love play rehearsal" on loop, and i just couldn't get the image of dorky little sora with braces and neon shirts singing it. and ofc riku staring at him lovingly but as the gay mess he is. 
> 
> i added [Toppie](https://twitter.com/toppiegames/status/1153513840937562112)'s hcs about riku carrying a rat in his hoodie bcs i 1000% believe riku is THAT weird kid that only sora think is cool.


End file.
